How to Grow & Care For Cobra Lily (California Pitcher Plant)

The cobra lily, also commonly known as California pitcher plant or cobra plant, is a unique and eye-catching plant thanks to its dramatic leaves that resemble the heads of cobra snakes. Its curling leaves rise from the base of the plant and round out into hooded foliage. Along with its almost startling appearance, these carnivorous plants also happen to have voracious appetites and will feed on insects as well as small vertebrates

The cobra lily can spread asexually through runners and stolons, and they flower infrequently. This plant is considered to be a true one-of-a-kind plant and possesses an exceptional structure and beauty.

Cobra Lily Care

Cobra lily plants require warm climates, full sun, and consistently wet and bog-like conditions in order to grow. As this can be difficult to replicate in a home garden, these plants are considered to be difficult to cultivate, particularly outside of their native area. In order to successfully grow a cobra lily in your own garden, the key is mimicking its native conditions as closely as possible.

Here are the main care requirements for growing a cobra lily:

• Plant in full sun or part shade and keep the roots cool.
• Other than rainwater, water with cool spring, distilled, or purified water. 
• Use an airy potting mix of rock and organic matter that ensures the roots are cool and moist.
• Do not fertilize a cobra lily plant, they self-feed.
  

Light

Cobra lilies will grow best in either full sun or partial shade. They will thrive when the roots are kept cooler than the rest of the plant. In full sun they tend to appear shorter and redder, while in partial shade conditions these plants grow taller and greener. Cobra lily plants do, however, need a balanced, even light distribution in order to promote vibrant colors on its sepals.

Water

Quite possibly the most crucial element of cobra lily care is water, and these plants are particular about the type they receive. Rainwater is always the best option, but if watering at home, use spring, distilled, or purified (via reverse osmosis) water. Cobra lilies are sensitive to the chemicals and minerals found in tap water.

These plants also prefer cool water, and some gardeners even place ice cubes on the soil and allow them to melt to add additional moisture and cool the plant's roots. This is particularly important on days when high temperatures soar above 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Soil

While proper irrigation is important to successfully grow cobra lily plants, the soil also has to be just right. Many gardeners opt for peat moss, perlite, and either lava rock or pumice to help create a soil mixture that allows for some cooling of the root system.

Temperature and Humidity

Though they do require cooler temperatures, humidity levels won't necessarily impact the growth of your cobra lily. However, it's recommended that humidity levels be kept at about 50 percent, which will help prevent the plant from drying out.

Cobra lilies will not do well in excessively warm temperatures and prefer locations with cooler temperatures at night (in the 50s or 60s).

Fertilizer

The carnivorous cobra lily plants don't require fertilization as they feed themselves by ingesting insects and other pests.

Pruning

The cobra lily doesn't require extensive pruning, but you can cut back dead stems and leaves on an as-needed basis.

Propagating Cobra Lily

Propagation can be done by cutting the stolons of these plants, which will produce more surviving buds when compared to seed planting. It also leads to a larger, healthier breed of cobra lily plants.

Seeds can also be used, but they will have to be kept refrigerated until the first quarter of the year (preferably February) and then planted in cold temperatures in sphagnum moss.

Here’s how to propagate cobra lily through root cuttings:

1. You will need scissors sterilized with alcohol, live sphagnum moss, a seed tray, a plastic bag, and distilled water.
2. Cut stolons (a stem branching horizontally from the root that runs along the soil’s surface and has buds at the ends) from the main plant. The stolons will have a mini plant growing from the top of the stem. 
3. Use the whole stolon as a propagation specimen, or create cuttings from 2-inch sections of the stolon, which should contain rootlets.
4. Lay stolons on top of wet live sphagnum moss and keep them in indirect, bright light and covered with an unsealed bag to trap in humidity. Keep moss moist with cool, distilled water.
5. Transfer to a larger pot or the garden once real leaves appear. 
   

Potting and Repotting

Since cool temperatures are so important when growing cobra lilies, you should opt for a plant container that is light in color and has proper drainage. Plastic pots, terra-cotta clay, and glazed ceramics are all acceptable options, as long as the container you choose does not absorb heat.

To maintain proper drainage and provide more space for the roots to grow, repot cobra lily every two years, after dormancy ends but before new growth begins in the spring. Use a pot that’s at least 12-inches wide for mature plants in live sphagnum moss or a mixture of peat moss, perlite, and volcanic rock, and provide a tray underneath so the pot can stand in water to retain most soil.

Overwintering

Cobra lily plants go dormant during the winter, and if they are not a perennial in your USDA growing zone, they will need to be brought indoors. Cobra lily should be overwintered in a bright, cold room while sitting in a tray of distilled water.

How to Get Cobra Lily to Bloom

Bloom Months

Cobra lily plants bloom in spring and summer from about April to August.

What Do Cobra Lily Flowers Look Like?

The 1- to 3-inch green and maroon flowers face down from the top of a leafless stem. They look like veined wings protruding from the hooded leaves.

Deadheading Cobra Lily Flowers

Spent blooms can be deadheaded to maintain the plant’s general health.